Take a quick glance at the wrists of the people you pass on the street, and you’ll find a whole heap of them are wearing fitness trackers or smartwatches of some variety. Many of us are more invested in our health than ever before, and with tech developments in this space getting better and better, it’s no wonder every second person is keen to have a little computer on their wrist telling them to move more frequently.

The thing is that these watches (Apple, Fitbit, and Garmin would be the front-runners here) are expensive. You’re talking a few hundred dollars each in many cases.

So, tech brand Laser has decided it would offer a more affordable player in the smartwatch health tracker game. That would be the V-Fitness Smart Watch (which was announced in December 2020).

The watch features include a heart rate monitor; compatibility with Apple Health, Google Fit, or the VeryFitPro Apps; 12 sports modes for workout tracking; text message, calendar appointment, and other notification functions; a stopwatch, timer, and alarm clock; step counter and calorie tracker; weather forecasts; IP68 water resistance rating and two-week battery life (among other things). You can check it out here.

I gave the watch a go, and here is what I found:

What’s good?

Okay, so I had to see how far this two-week battery went and while it didn’t last the full two weeks for me, it did survive an entire 10 days. If you compare that with many of the more high-end models (which come with more features that use up battery) that’s a huge difference. Apple watches last about 18 hours, as example.

The watch is easy to work with in terms of user experience. There are two buttons on the right side of the watch that allow you to jump between features and the touch screen is nice and responsive.

There are four options for your watch-face display, and they’re each different so there are some simple options for customizing your watch if you like. It also comes with three different bands (black, teal and orange) which can easily be swapped . I stuck with the black band, admittedly.

The display is clear and simple so when looking at features like the heart rate monitor, the data you’re looking for is incredibly easy to decipher. The font used is also quite large which is useful if you usually struggle to read off a small smartwatch screen.

Basic functions like a step tracker, sleep monitor, heart rate monitor, alarm clock and low activity level alerts (designed to get you moving) are useful for everyday health goals. The sleep monitor is great for reviewing how much deep sleep you’re getting each night.

Setting up the watch to register calls is also nifty if your phone isn’t with you and you’d like to be alerted.

What’s not so good?

The design of the watch is chunky, and so won’t be suitable for everyone. I found it a little too large for my wrist. This wasn’t uncomfortable but sleeping with it on takes some getting used to. The rubber band also feels a little flimsy.

While there are four face designs available, I wasn’t particularly drawn in by any of them from a design perspective. That’s a personal thing, but the loud colors didn’t do it for me.

I found some inconsistencies in the tracking of calorie burning and steps when using the watch in the gym compared to other devices like the treadmill (when using the heart rate monitor). The V-Fitness Smart Fitness Watch showed lower figures than the treadmill, but smartwatches have been known to struggle to accurately measure calories burned, historically.

The watch is incredibly easy to set up, but Bluetooth does drop in and out at times.

The verdict

If you’re not super into high-tech devices and want a simple smartwatch that gives you the basics, this is an affordable option in that space. You can purchase it from Big W for $129.

However, there are other low-cost smartwatch options that may be a little sleeker in the design department.